Table 3.

Associations between clinical characteristics and chronic constipation (CC) subgroups [OR, (95% CI)]

	Persistent CC vs. no CC	Non-persistent CC vs. no CC	Persistent CC vs. non-persistent CC	p-value†
Age per 10 years	1.1 (1.0,1.3)	1.1 (1.0,1.1)	1.0 (0.9,1.2)	0.09
Female gender	1.4 (0.9,2.2)	1.6 (1.3,1.9)	0.9 (0.6,1.4)	<0.01
BMI+	1.0 (0.9,1.0)	1.0 (1.0,1.0)	1.0 (0.9,1.0)	0.50
SSC score+	2.1 (1.3,3.4)	2.9 (2.2,3.4)	0.8 (0.5,1.3)	<0.01
Smoking, current+	0.7 (0.3,1.8)	1.0 (0.7,1.4)	0.7 (0.3,1.8)	0.75
Alcohol+
None	2.0 (1.0,4.1)	1.2 (0.9,1.5)	1.7 (0.8,3.6)	0.09
≥ 7 drinks/week	1.8 (0.7,4.7)	0.9 (0.6,1.3)	2.0 (0.7,5.5)	0.39
Married+	1.3 (0.6,2.8)	1.0 (0.7,1.3)	1.3 (0.6,2.9)	0.86
Education level+
Less than high school	0.6 (0.2,2.1)	1.3 (0.9,1.9)	0.5 (0.2,1.7)	0.35
College graduate or higher	0.8 (0.5,1.2)	0.7 (0.6,0.9)	1.0 (0.6,1.7)	0.008
Cholecystectomy+	0.7 (0.3,2.1)	1.2 (0.8,1.7)	0.6 (0.2,1.9)	0.59
Appendectomy+	1.2 (0.7,2.1)	1.3 (1.0,1.6)	0.9 (0.5,1.6)	0.11
Visiting a physician > 5 times+	2.0 (1.0,3.8)	1.6 (1.2,2.1)	1.2 (0.6,2.5)	0.004
Laxative/fiber use+	12.1 (7.5,19.4)	4.0 (3.2,5.1)	3.0 (1.9,4.9)	<0.01
Dyspepsia	2.0 (0.7,5.8)	2.9 (1.9,4.5)	1.1 (0.6,1.9)	<0.01
Gastroesophageal reflux symptoms	2.0 (1.2,3.3)	1.8 (1.4,2.3)	0.7 (0.2,2.0)	<0.01

^†From logistic regression models, overall test for the three constipation subgroups

⁺Models adjusted for age and gender